Breaking: Tom Moyane fails in court bid to keep his job at SARS

That's it. Tom Moyane has reached the end of the road with his attempts to remain at the helm of SARS. It completes a rapid fall from grace.

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA  NOVEMBER 28: South African Revenue Services (SARS) commissioner Tom Moyane arrives in Parliament on November 28, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. Moyane appeared before the committee to present the revenue service's annual report and to field questions about the suspension, investigation and reinstatement of Jonas Makwakwa. (Photo by Gallo Images / The Times / Esa Alexander)

It took the ConCourt little more than half a day to throw out an application filed by Tom Moyane, where he campaigned to be re-instated as SARS commissioner and challenge Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to fire him.

Tom Moyane loses ConCourt bid over SARS role

The Constitutional Court were left with no option but to dismiss the claim as Moyane had “failed to demonstrate” that this was a matter appropriate for the court itself. They stated that this issue “was not within their exclusive jurisdiction”. ConCourt also maintain that Tom Moyane failed to show there were grounds for “direct access”.

How Tom Moyane lost his job

The ruling concludes a drama that has been unfolding for more than a year. Moyane was heavily implicated as a state capture stooge in The Preisdent’s Keepers – an explosive investigative book compiled by Jacques Pauw. He was accused of helping Zuma fiddle his figures, in order to help the ex-president avoid paying tax.

When Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded Zuma – promising a “new dawn” and a crackdown on corruption, the heat was on for Moyane. Sure enough, he was suspended from the post the following month. The former commissioner remained in limbo for another seven months, before he was finally canned.

His desperate plea to ConCourt was ultimately his last roll of the dice. But you should not rule Moyane out at this stage. He’s not exactly the type to take this lying down, and as he’s previously promised, he will keep looking for legal avenues to challenge Ramaphosa’s termination.